Cass Board Fills Vacancy at April Meeting

By Benjamin Cox on April 17, 2019 at 10:48am

The Cass County Board of Commissioners approved its newest member to the board as part of business for their meeting on April 10th. Kim Hance, a Democrat from Beardstown, was appointed by Cass County Chairman Mike Barnett and approved by the board.

Hance, a 1988 graduate of Beardstown High School, is the executive director of the Beardstown Chamber of Commerce and the executive officer of the Beardstown Main Street Committee. Hance replaces David Parish in the District 2 chair, a term that will expire in March 2020. Barnett outlines why Hance was chosen to fill the vacancy.

“Kim, another board member Gary Noyes, and myself serve on the OEDC, the local economic development committee. She is a very active member in that. I’ve been extremely impressed with her knowledge of the Beardstown business community over the months I’ve served on that committee. She’s very knowledgeable and hard-working. Another factor in [the decision] is that Dave Parish was a lifelong friend, and he expressed great confidence in Kim and her abilities.”

According to his Sager Funeral Home obituary, Parish was a long-time history and psychology teacher at Beardstown High School and 13-year board chairman in Cass County. He passed away in Springfield on February 8th at the age of 75. Parish had served concurrently on the board since his first election in 1987.

After Hance’s appointment was approved, the board completed normal business on the agenda including an ambulance service ordinance, approval of work on the Cass-Schuyler Public Transit system to upgrade service, and the hiring of Hansen Information Systems to work on the county’s website and information technology as well as other appointments in the county.

Barnett went on to explain future economic opportunities in the county that are coming up as part of board business.

“Sunrise Ag is in the process of completing an $8.9 million expansion in the Virginia area. They have a follow-up $8 million expansion set to be completed in another 1-2 years as part of the overall expansion of their company. We also have a solar farm proposal being put together for south Beardstown. It’s a very large proposal, maybe one of the largest in the State of Illinois. Then, we have a wind farm project that is in works in part of Ashland township.”

The Cass County Board of Commissioners meet the 2nd Monday of each month at the Cass County Courthouse, 100 E Springfield Street in Virginia at 7PM.